My Mate
by LadyMelieka
Summary: Inu Yasha has come of age, and now he needs to find his mate before mating season begins, or he'll go crazy. But who is his mate, and what gender?


_Howdy! This is my first Inu Yasha fic, and it's gonna be a good one, I can just feel it! For those of you who don't know what the pairing is, I'm gonna leave it a surprise, however I am duty bound to tell you that this contains SLASH. That's right, it contains our fantabulously gorgeous Inu Yasha getting it on with another hot male! XD_

_Ok, that's my warning, and if you don't like that stuff, don't read it, cos I'm sick to death of the horrible flamers blaming me for the sickness and insanity of the world (slight exaggeration there, but the thought was bad enough.) _

_So, yeah, don't like, don't read. Also, I do not own Inu Yasha. If I did, well, I wouldn't be writing on I'd be writing on Inu Yasha (and have more than one idea, lol)_

_So…on with the story! XD  _

"Inu Yasha, is there something wrong? You've been acting funny all day." the dog demon scowled menacingly at Kagome, she seemed oblivious to it. "I'm fine. There's nothing wrong with me."

"It's his birthday." Inu Yasha's eyes widened, then narrowed in anger as they all clearly heard Mioga's voice. "It's his birthday, and this year he comes of age." Shippo immediately began to snicker. "I thought you were older than that Inu Yasha, wow, I don't feel like the baby of the group now."

Inu Yasha opened his mouth to blast Shippo to hell, but was distracted by a hand stroking one of his ears. He turned in surprise to see Kagome smiling at him. "Happy birthday Inu Yasha, she said softly, before reaching up to kiss his cheek, causing them both to blush furiously. He looked away, embarrassed, and his gaze fell on Shippo again. Strangely, he was no longer angry. The kitsune was only very young after all. "I am older than that Shippo," he said. "It's just that coming of age gets closer for every year you age, obviously. My body's been the same age for the last fifty years. If I hadn't been stuck to that tree, I'd have come of age fifty years ago."

Mioga jumped up onto his shoulder. "Yes, Lord Inu Yasha, about that," he was speaking very quietly, to ensure the others wouldn't hear him. "At some point very soon we will need to speak about your coming of age ceremony, and finding your mate. But for this day, enjoy your birthday with your friends." Inu Yasha glanced over at them, and the retreating back of Shippo who was running for Kiede screaming "CAKE!"

He looked down at Mioga. "Mate? What do ya mean, finding my mate? What about Kagome?" Mioga sniffed. "What about her? We do need to talk about this Inu Yasha, but now is not the time. Please, enjoy your birthday, I will speak no more of this until later."

Inu Yasha pouted, but it had no effect on the flea. He scowled, still no effect. "Damn stubborn flea." Mioga smirked to himself.

It was dark, and Inu Yasha had suffered all day, waiting for his so called birthday celebrations to finish. It had seemed less like a celebration of his birth than an excuse to have a massive party. Although everyone had come up to him to wish him happy birthday, Sango and Miroku included. They had come up together, hand in hand, slightly pink, to wish him well, and also to tell him about the wine. He gathered that they were drunk, and off to go be indiscreet – discreetly, of course.

"My Lord Inu Yasha? I believe now is an appropriate time for us to discuss your coming of age ritual, and finding your mate." Inu Yasha snorted. "It's about time. Are we gonna do this here, or somewhere else?" Mioga looked around at all the drunken guests. "Perhaps here is not the best place to discuss things of such a delicate nature. We should perhaps venture further into the forest, where we can converse undetected." Inu Yasha nodded silently. He was a little surprised, but all this secrecy meant that what Mioga was going to tell him was very important and probably very embarrassing as well.

"Yes, here should be fine. Please sit down, Lord Inu Yasha, and we can begin." Inu Yasha looked around. "Here? We're a long way into the forest, Mioga, are you sure we need to be this deep in?" The flea nodded.

"Certainly my lord. We are this deep into the forest, because I am about to tell you certain things, about your mate especially, which will shock you, and for some time, until you become accustomed to it, most likely embarrass you. Please, be seated." Inu Yasha raised his eyebrows, but settled himself comfortably against a tree. "So get on with it already, flea."

Mioga cleared his throat. "Yes, well, first of all, we need to discuss the best time for your coming of age ceremony," he paused, and Inu Yasha said, "As soon as possible, Mioga, that brat Shippo won't leave me alone till it's done, no matter what I say about coming of age fifty years ago. As soon as you can get everything together, I want it done then." Mioga nodded solemnly, he seemed to understand, and then he said, "Well, I suppose that's easily enough taken care of. The next thing, Lord Inu Yasha, is mating season." Confused, Inu Yasha tried to remember when mating season was. Then he realized. "It's that soon!" He yelled, and the flea toppled off his shoulder. Inu Yasha rolled his eyes, and waited not very patiently for Mioga to climb back up. "Ok, so mating season's next month, fine, but what does that have to do with anything? I've been through hundreds of mating seasons before, and it's never been a problem for me." Mioga seemed to be expecting this. "Yes Lord Inu Yasha, you have, but never while you come of age. During this mating season, you will be driven to seek your mate, if you haven't already found him."

_Cliffie! Tis actually a good one too, isn't it, lol. Hey, if anyone can tell me what a kitsune actually is, seeing as I'm Australian, and have no idea what that means, other than Shippo being one, I'd really appreciate it, ya know? It's just that I feel really dumb, writing about 'the kitsune' when I don't know what it is…_


End file.
